Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

Four hours and 34 minutes, 222 attempted shots, and a 2-1 lead in the series for the New York Rangers. Those are some numbers from Wednesday/Thursday’s triathlon triple overtime Game 3, which ended with a Marian Gaborik wrist shot after over 102 minutes of play.

For those who left "early" because you had "work" in the morning: shame on you.

“Probably half the players on the ice have blood on their jerseys by the end of it,” Brooks Laich said after the game.

It was a battle all the way to the end. Both teams had numerous chances to put it away in the overtime periods, hitting posts and missing pointblank.

“When you get into that many hours of playing it becomes a mental game,” said Rangers coach John Tortorella. “Just not giving in. That’s the key, just don’t give in.”

“The impact is that we’re up a game,” he added. “They have to win three, we have to win two.”

The game was the third longest the Caps have played all-time (and the longest at Verizon Center) and the lengthiest one New York has played since 1939. The Rangers played much of the game with five defensemen after Stu Bickel was benched in the second period, causing Ryan McDonagh to skate a mind blowing and leg numbing 53:17. And Caps fans shouldn’t be worried about Alex Ovechkin’s ice time in this one, as the captain registered 35:14.

“It’s really tough,” Karl Alzner said. “Your mind starts to go a little bit. You take a stride off, a step off and the guys get a chance.”

“The team that wins is not always the one that has the most energy but [the one] that’s still the most mentally sharp — most cases that’s true,” he continued, echoing Tortorella.

Karl Alzner's dogs were not as equally upbeat. (Via @KarlAlzner)

For the Caps, it’s a deflating loss. To play so long and come up with nothing is obviously tough. But in the Washington’s locker room after the game, the players projected a largely positive, forward-looking aura. It ended in defeat, but the Caps went toe-to-toe with the number one seed in the East for the length of almost two games after splitting the matches in New York. And for a team (perhaps refreshingly) with a shadow of the postseason expectations of pervious years, they did also just finishing knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champions.

“We weren’t able to get the goal, but it’s no reason to hang your head or pout,” Laich said. “We were right there. We got to rebound. We get a couple days of rest, a practice and come back for Game 4.”

Karl Alzner seemed equally upbeat as he spoke outside his stall in the early hours of Thursday morning.

“We’ve lost in overtime in the playoffs already and we’ve found a way to bounce back, he said. “I think we’re a lot mentally tougher team then we have been in the past.”

The Caps and Rangers are back at it noontime Saturday. Let’s try to keep this one under four hours. We have the Derby to watch afterwards.

Doug Johnson is a Puck Buddy. This is his pregamer. This is teh twitterz.

The Pregame: Fun! Today’s installment of “Places That Smell” has us visiting the big macher of smells, New York City! Boo-yah!

This is fun because it’s true. The entire place is one massive reek… or, more accurately, hundreds of smaller little reeks. Did you know, for instance, that the five boroughs of New York City were formed not for political reasons, but as a way of keeping one smelly New Yorker from having to endure his pungent neighbors? The subway pretty much put an end to that, and now the whole place stinks like the laundry room in a European hostel. Anyone who’s been in either knows this to be gospel truth.

New Yorker

New Yorkers know this as well, but because they also have the thinnest skins of anyone on the planet, they simply cannot stand to hear others say it. So they will talk (or yell) themselves blue in the face trying to convince you that NYC is the single greatest concentration of fantastical awesomeness in the universe. Ugh, we get it. Face it, New York: you’re needier than a public radio pledge drive.

The Puck Drop

That said, needy isn’t the first word that comes to mind with the New York Rangers. Maybe shnook is. Or good… like, scary good. They’re 7-2-1 in the last ten (compare with our 4-3-3) with only the Devils yanking their tails, and at 35-13-3 they have fewer loses that anyone else in the NHL.

So what’s their secret, and how do we kick ‘em in the kishkes?

What Makes Them Hot (And Us Not)

1: Road Weariers. They like playing in their own litter box just a tiny bit less than we like playing in ours – and of late, we haven’t even been doing all that great at Verizon. But where they just have us beat cold is on the road.  The Blueshirts’ 18-7-3 away record is a near inversion of our 9-14-3, with many of our road wins in Canada, which just feels like it should count a little less or something. By this measure, they have serious advantage over us Sunday.

Henrik Lundqvist

2: It’s Good To Be King. There’s a reason Henrik Lundqvist is called King, and it isn’t because he won the looks lottery. The Rangers’ goals for/against of 145/106, is one of the best differentials going and the single stingiest net in the NHL, due largely to the herring-gobbler Lundqvist. You think Tomáš Vokoun looks hot at .920%? Try the King’s .936%. Add to this the fact that the Rangers aren’t shooting  as well as you might think a top team should, and a forecheck that actually works, and it equals a monster in the twine. Plus, he’s a doodyhead.

3: Can Mike Come Out And Play? The Rangers have their over-achievers (Derek Stepan with 6 points in his last 5, and Marian Gaborik with 27G/21A, plus-16 are but two) and their disappointments (Marc Staal, only recently back on the ice, is 0/0 in his last five outings.) But they are generally a healthy team – that weird hit Fedotenko recently took from his own stick one exception – and even their non-stars like Dan Girardi and Ryan “Shillelagh-Face” McDonagh are playing with star-like abandon.

If only the same could be said about the Caps. Laich’s almost-injury a few days back should have sent shivers through the team. We are thin where it counts most, and don’t seem to be making full use of those who are healthy. In addition to missing a vowel, Hamrlik is also missing opportunities lately, and Carlson seems all but forgotten. (Perhaps he should bring a towel.) And now Knoobs is game-day decision for a healthy scratch.

The OT

Ryan McDonagh

We really liked what we saw against the Panthers; we really didn’t like what we saw against the Bruins. We liked the Habs game; we hated the Hurricanes. In general, there’s too much uppy-down on the ice; too many fluky shots or lazy first period play. When we decide to dig in and fight back we’re great, but there have just been too many moments when we’ve folded too early. And yes, we’re well aware that these same things have been said countless times before.

The ace up our sleeve? This is the Capitals’ Dads weekend, and the team shipped up by train with all the fathers in tow. We’re thinking that this is a very good thing. It’s one thing to play in front of a house full of fans in red (or shnooks in blue) but entirely something else to play in front of your biggest boosters.

It’ll be hard, and it may be ugly, but Sunday we’re pulling for an upset Caps victory.

Meme Of The Day

In honor of the Caps Casino Night. As we say in the PuckBuddys house, we’d hit that!

Will Sean Avery be a prick tonight?

The Capitals, who are 24-3-3 at home this year, currently have a club-record 12 straight wins and look for (unlucky?) number 13 tonight against the New York Rangers at 7:05pm. Unfortunately for the Capitals, against them tonight is the dreaded reverse-lock. For those who don’t know what that is, that’s when a scenario presents itself where conditions seem so perfect for a win – that it’s fair to assume the other team will do so because of unforeseen happenings. Why do we feel that way? Well, John Tortoralla has decided to rest Henrik Lundqvist tonight (Matt Bradley’s Best Friend), and is instead giving the keys to backup goaltender Alex Auld. Auld’s numbers on the year are: W/L: 9-6, GA: 3.00, SV%: .894 and his career numbers against the Capitals are W/L: 3-4, GA: 2.73, SV%: .896. Um, weak. Bruce Boudreau will counter with our time-traveling buddy Jose Theodore.

Anyways, since the reverse lock may be in effect – look for a 5 goal game from a gentlemanly Sean Avery who’ll concentrate more on forechecking than being a complete prick, and zero points from Marian Gaborik, who’ll be in the lineup for the first time since February 12th. And oh yeah, a 45 save shutout from Alex Auld.

Back in reality land, Tarik El Bashir has the Capitals Forward Lines for Tonight’s Game:

1st Line: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble
2nd Line: Laich-Belanger-Semin (Belanger promoted)
3rd Line: Chimera-Fleischmann-Fehr (Flash back to center)
4th Line: Bradley-Steckel-Walker (Bradley returns!!)

Also, our partner Michael Hoffman, who will be supplying us quotes for the rest of the year, asked Bruce Boudreau about Alex Ovechkin’s slump since returning from the Olympics. Here’s what he had to say:

“Every year I’ve been here, Alex has had a little bit of a stretch where he just can’t find the net and then the next thing you know once he gets one in, he gets ten in four games. That’s the way’s he’s been and this is his little funk. I expect him to come out of it very soon.” – An Ovechkin goal scoring slump? Coach Boudreau isn’t concerned

Will Ovi come out of the slump tonight? Will Sean Avery be an a-hole? Make sure to watch the game on CSN and follow the Russian Machine on Twitter for all your updates.

Also, below the jump are your must reads before tonight’s game. We will be referring to them as Puck Drops for now on!

Puck Drops:

“Two days ago, the Caps figured to be touch-and-go in tough playoff series if they play Pittsburgh, San Jose or Chicago. Now — in theory — they have added a penalty-killing and faceoff specialist (Belanger), a swift defenseman with a big power-play slap shot (Corvo) and a gritty, scrambling get-under-your-skin veteran (Walker). Besides, they get back an old Caps friend, Milan ‘Juice’ Jurcina” – To get even better, Washington Capitals risk tinkering with what they’ve built

“If there ever comes a time when they see fit to bring it in Washington, and I hope that’s soon, we’d love to have it at Nationals Park, but I cannot tell you that that’s gonna be happening.”- Kasten on Winter Classic prospects

“If I’m starting a team today, and they are of the same age, I take Iginla any day of the week over Crosby. Canada probably wins this tournament without Crosby. They surely lose it without
Iginla.” – Canceling out the ‘Crosby is overrated’ debate

“This is the best Caps lineup in franchise history, even if the goaltending situation remains unsettled.” – How deadline impacts playoff picture

“During Wednesday’s trade deadline, there were plenty of teams seeking help for a potential postseason push, and plenty of teams pulled the trigger. But did they actually improve their chances?” – Help Wanted, But Was It Found?

“I don’t feel the compelling need to have the third jersey.” – No Third Jersey For The Capitals